On May 14 the Juventus Stadium will play host to the Europa League final and the Turin faithful will be eager that their team is involved.

They take on Lyon for the first time in a competitive game on Thursday and, as they currently sit 11 points clear atop Serie A, while their opponents are fifth in Ligue 1, Juventus look to be favourites.

French football writer Robin Bairner indicates that Lyon may well struggle:

We have drawn the favourites of the competition, one of the best teams in Europe with a strong history.

This is a very tough draw but it is an event for the club, for the team.

We have nothing to lose, we will be the outsiders. We must take things in a positive manner. We must be conscious of the chance we have.

Domestically, Juventus have a better attacking and defensive record with 67 goals scored from 31 games to Lyon's 46 from 31. The Italian side have conceded only 22 to Lyon's 37, per Squawka.com.

However, Lyon have yet to lose at home in this season's Europa League and ran out easy 4-1 winners at the Stade de Gerland in the last-16 tie against Viktoria Plzen.

Juventus' quality will likely be too much for Lyon and, if the Ligue 1 side trail going to Turin for the second leg, they will be in a very tricky position as Juventus have not lost a home league game all season, per ESPNFC.

Going For A Third Triumph

Paulo Duarte

Sevilla and Porto are both two-time winners of this tournament, meaning their quarter-final clash will have added intensity as both sides look to move one step closer to a third triumph.

Sevilla won back-to-back trophies in 2006 and 2007, while Porto's victories were eight years apart in 2003 and 2011, per UEFA.com.

Since coming into the tournament after being knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage, Porto have only managed to record one victory from four matches, with a 1-0 home win over Napoli.

Meanwhile, Sevilla overcame a 2-0 home defeat from the first leg of their last-16 tie to eventually win on penalties against Real Betis to qualify for the quarter-finals.

It is an extremely difficult tie to call with both teams seemingly very evenly matched; a feeling echoed by beIN Sports' Tancredi Palmeri:

Both come into the game at the Dragao Stadium in losing form domestically. Porto lost 2-1 to Nacional while Sevilla were downed 1-0 by Celta de Vigo at the weekend.

If either side can claim a first-leg lead it will go a long way to securing a place in the final four.